A RETIRED civil servant has dragged before the Abuja Division of the National Industrial Court the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (HoS), the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, the Attorney General of the Federation as well as the Accountant General of the Federation over allegations of abuse of power and corrupt practices in the Budget Office.
The retired civil servant, whose last duty post was at the Budget Office of the Federation, Ms Bilkisu Sannusi, is also accusing the Director General of the Budget Office, Mr Ben Akabueze, of abuse of power. She is also alleging that Mr Akabueze unilaterally withheld her salaries and other entitlements for daring to expose corrupt practices that were being committed in the Budget Office.
At Monday’s sitting in the suit, number NICN/ABJ/ 96/2022, the Director of Legal Department in the Budget Office, M. D. Agada, who represented the Finance Ministry and the Budget Office, told the court, presided over by the Honourable Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi that his clients had filed a memorandum of appearance and their responses to the originating summons of the claimant, Mrs Sannusi.
Similarly, the lawyer representing the AGF, Aliyu Abdulkadir, said a memorandum of appearance had been filed by his client.
Justice Oyewumi however observed that the AGF’s memorandum of appearance was without a stamp as required, and as a result ordered parties to file all necessary papers before December 7, 2022 to which he adjourned the suit for definite hearing.
In her statement of facts, Ms Sannusi alleged that she discovered corrupt practices by some officials in the office of the Director General, Budget Office of the Federation. The alleged fraud she said border on manipulation or padding of budget proposals by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA), which she said she reported to the Director General, Mr Akabueze.
Sannusi further accused Akabueze of being complicit in the heist and that due to her refusal to compromise on the padding of the budget, Akabueze, in cahoots with officials of the Finance Ministry and the Head of Service of the Federation, removed her name from payment vouchers.
Sannusi averred that Akabueze, in order to make life difficult for her, caused her “Secret and Open Files” domiciled with registry of the Budget Office of the Federation to be removed and kept in an unknown place to frustrate her from processing her retirement benefits.
The claimant also alleged that the Director General of the Budget Office allegedly instructed one Emeka Obodo, one of his “allies in the Finance Department (of the Budget Office) to withhold and deny the claimant her due financial and material benefits.”
Ms Sannusi also alleged that one Mohammed Taura also of the Budget Office, upon being confronted and accused of being behind the vanishing of her (Sannusi’s) personal records, said he “removed the files on the instruction of Mr Akabueze.
Sannusi while describing Akabueze’s conduct as ” reckless and abuse of public office,” prayed the court to award her exemplary damages in the sum of N50 million to serve as deterrent to other public office holders from towing Akabueze’s alleged action that is in bad faith.
She also prayed the court for an order declaring the withholding of her salaries and entitlements by the defendants, particularly Mr Akabueze, as “illegal, unlawful and a gross abuse of governmental powers.”
She further prayed the court to declare that the Head of Service of the Federation “lacks the power to impose punishment of suspension of salary” on her except as stipulated by extant rules and regulations of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The claimant is also asking the court to award in her favour “general damages in the sum of N59 million” against the defendants “for inconveniences suffered by her and caused by the defendants.”
Furthermore, Sannusi prayed the court to also compel the Head of Service of the Federation to “forthwith release” her “secret and open files to enable her proceed with the processing of her retirement.”
The claimant had averred that she was due for retirement on Grade Level 14 (Chief Executive Officer) on 1st April, 2022, but could not process her retirement benefits due to “personal vendetta by Mr Akabueze for her being “upright and incorruptible while in service.”
The Budget Office and the Finance Ministry’s joint statement of defence, denied any involvement in the fraud allegations.
They denied padding the Kaduna Polytechnic budget which is at the heart of the dispute.
The defendants accused Sannusi of refusing a posting out of the Budget Office, blaming her refusal for the stoppage of her emoluments.
